The Blinking Cursor

When you’re sitting at your computer thinking or maybe just distracted or possibly having a conversation with someone, that cursor is blinking. Most people barely notice it.

There it is, waiting for you. Waiting for the next key stroke or the mouse move and click. Blinking. Waiting for direction. Waiting for you to tell it what to do. It’s waiting for you. And it’s blinking.

Like I said, most people barely notice it. And they barely notice it because it means nothing to them. It isn’t the next idea, the next page, paragraph, sentence, word or letter. It’s just a cursor to most people. Just a simple way to find where you are on the page. That’s it. Blink, blink, blink… here you are.

To a writer, it is much more than that. For those of us that write on a computer, that blinking cursor is everything.

It is literally the next letter, word, sentence, paragraph. It is the next step your character takes or the next word out of their mouth. It’s the next emotion. The next feeling. That cursor is the next everything.

Or it could be the last. The last word or last step. The last breath, the last scene, or the last time they appear in the story. That’s it. Never to be heard from again.

Blink, blink, blink. The cursor keeps blinking, hungry for more. Never satisfied. Always wanting.

That’s what I mean… as a writer… that cursor is everything. Beginning, middle, end of everything. Every conversation. Every character. Every fight. Every cry. Every life. Every death. The cursor is everything. And it doesn’t stop. Forever blinking. Forever waiting.

It can be ominous. It can heckle you. It can drive you forward. Or drive you crazy. It can be a force for good or evil. It can be your motivation, your drive, or your downfall if you let it.

If you’re a pen and paper writer, it may be the blank page or empty line staring at you. Tapping on the page with your pen, waiting for the next thing. I’m sure for some, that is reality and it probably has the same impact. Maybe if you jam away on a typewriter, it is the blank page or the silence or the ticking clock. It may be different, but it likely has the same bite. Every writer has a medium and a process. We all share the same challenges; they just present themselves differently be it a cursor or a blank line. It’s the same.

For me, for a computer-based writer, it is the cursor.

If you aren’t a creator in this medium, you’ve probably never thought of it. If you’re the person who just cut and pastes things from the internet or hits the right click and puts a link to someone else’s creative work into your post, you definitely don’t get it.

If you’re a writer, like I am, you know the feeling. Trying to come up with what’s next. The next plot shift. The next line. The perfect word. That adjective that eludes you. The adverb you feel like you’ve used too many times already. Your brain is moving, working, thinking.

And the cursor is blinking. Blink, blink, blink.

You’re being creative or at least trying. The cursor is mechanical and unyielding. Blink, blink, blink.

I know a lot of writers. Short stories. Articles. Fiction and non-fiction. Poetry. Professional writers who do grant applications and technical manuals. Bloggers. These are all people who create something. They create new things for people to consume. Some of them do it daily or weekly. Some less often. But they all create and creating ain’t easy, especially when there is a deadline or an expectation.

It also takes courage. Courage to come up with something new and then give it to the world. Your idea. Your vision. Your thoughts and emotions. Part of you. Write it down and then let it go, knowing there will be criticism or applause. Could be love or hate. Could be the best or the worst thing ever. It takes courage to put that out there.

The cursor has no courage. Blink, blink, blink. The cursor creates nothing. Blink, blink, blink. The cursor is always there, friend or foe. Blink, blink, blink.

You can love the cursor or hate it. Embrace it or fight it. No matter what, you can always count on it…The Blinking Cursor. Blink, blink. blink.

Buy the Terry Davis Series here: Keep Moving, Keep Shooting, Cross To Bear, Rebellis